Obama Asserts Executive Privilege Over Fast And Furious Fiasco

If there was any confusion whether Obama is in fact Bush, or maybe even Nixon, this has now been squashed. From Fox:

President Obama has granted an 11th-hour request by Attorney General Eric Holder to exert executive privilege over Fast and Furious documents, a last-minute maneuver that appears unlikely to head off a contempt vote against Holder by Republicans in the House. The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee is expected to forge ahead with its meeting on the contempt resolution anyway.

Holder, whose guilt is implicitly proven by this action, is now likely absolved of everything as the TOTUS has effectively onboarded all of his "balance sheet risk." And why not. The Fed does it for everyone else every day.

A showdown Wednesday in the House between Attorney General Eric Holder and Rep. Darrell Issa comes down to this: Who will blink first in a dispute over Justice Department documents Mr. Issa is demanding related to the botched Fast and Furious gun-trafficking probe?

California Republican Mr. Issa is chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, and he has called a 10 a.m. meeting of his panel to vote on a resolution to sanction Mr. Holder with contempt of Congress. The two men held a meeting Tuesday that lasted only 20 minutes. And from their accounts, it has become a game of chicken, with each side insisting the other act first to resolve the standoff.

Mr. Holder said Mr. Issa rejected his offer to provide documents because the lawmaker wouldn't agree that they would fulfill the subpoena, effectively ending the contempt threat. Mr. Issa said the attorney general didn't come prepared to provide documents and that the contempt threat can't be removed until the documents are produced.

At issue are Justice Department documents that Mr. Issa and Sen. Charles Grassley (R., Iowa) have sought and that the department resisted turning over in the congressional investigation into Fast and Furious. The department said the documents reflected internal deliberation or were related to continuing criminal investigations and therefore weren't subject to congressional subpoena.

If a majority of the committee votes for contempt Wednesday, the matter then could be taken up by the full House. If the House votes in favor, then a contempt citation could be referred to the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, an appointee of President Barack Obama who is in Mr. Holder's chain of command. And then things become legally more uncertain. It isn't clear if Congress can compel an executive-branch official to prosecute the attorney general. In the Bush administration, the House voted to hold White House officials in contempt in a similar documents dispute and the Bush-appointed attorney general ordered the U.S. attorney to disregard it. The matter was eventually settled with the production of documents before a civil-court battle ran its course.

The main issue in Fast and Furious remains the contention by Messrs. Issa and Grassley that the Justice Department is improperly withholding documents. The department has turned over thousands of documents—about 7,000 or 8,000, depending on which side is counting—and says it is being forthcoming. By comparison, the inspector general has had access to about 80,000 documents, including those the department has declined to share with lawmakers.

...

The matter has become a political fight, with little real impact on Mr. Holder, who is expected to serve out his tenure through the end of the current administration in January. Democrats accuse Republicans of using the contempt measure as a political tool against Mr. Holder and the president. Democrats did some of the same against President George W. Bush's attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, who resigned under pressure in a controversy over the firings of U.S. attorneys.

And now back to your regularly scheduled farce of a democratic republic.

The US is no longer a democracy or a republic. After 9/11 Bush declared an emergency and ended it. The Commander-in-Chief can do whatever he wants. The CinC will play ball with congress and the supremes when they give him what he wants. It's good optics. Otherwise, he'll ignore them. Likewise for the people.

The US is no longer a democracy or a republic. After 9/11 Bush declared an emergency and ended it. The Commander-in-Chief can do whatever he wants. The CinC will play ball with congress and the supremes when they give him what he wants. It's good optics. Otherwise, he'll ignore them.

True, given that he walked away from the slam dunk case against the New Black Panthers on blatant voter intimidation. And now high-yella brotha Holder gets his propers after murdering an American border agent and who knows how many Mexicans.

Black gangstas and Jews running the country... what could possibly go wrong?

You left out his Selective Service registration which is the most obviously forged document made available--a mis-aligned Post Office stamp with a 2 digit rather thatn 4 digit date?? "80" instead of "1980."

Does anyone really need more proof that the executive branch of the US government has been completely captured by the elite? Obama is a cut-out, it is 100% obvious that both he (and Bush, for that matter) were nothing but puppets dancing on strings.

Using family influence and pulling strings to keep your children safe and one million miles from the battlefield, while children of the NOT rich-and-famous are kidnapped and sent overseas to have their heads blown off.

Do you guys realize how fucking loony you look when a dem is in the white house? It was just as bad with Clintoon. Fucking nutters going crazy everywhere. Where were y'all when Saint Ronny and Ollie were running drugs and guns and starting little wars and revolutions?

It's one big criminal gang. O is no different than the others. Or were you expecting hope and change?

This seems likely. But I'd argue it's the perception that is worse for two reasons: the speed of information and rumors today, and each is inheriting a more out of control situation than the prior. IOW the job is getting harder and harder to keep the lid on, and we are getting the same caliber crook.

agree and this is exacty why (1) the executive will become more and more dependent on criminal international gigantic structures that created these problems and have huge interests in hiding, denying and deflecting them and (2) out of "necessity," the executive will justify exponential erosion of the bill of rights and true capitalism

See: (a) histories of most empires and mix with it (b) the rapidly depleting world resources

I used to call them bushbots and now obumabots are all over this thread..the simple fact is this guy who ever he is barry or AKA's is breaking what was US law right and left..D AND R's trolls we face else where on the net too bad we have em on ZH like flies on shit.

It's a stupid thing to bring up at all. Plenty of people have high school yearbooks with dumb things written in them, me included. What you did and who you were at age 18 has nothing to do with the adult you became later. Only boring people are completely clean. And come on, we're talking pot smoking here, it's not like Obama was the school heroin dealer!

Even IF I had a drug dealer in high school, I was at least smart enough to know better than associating myself with him publicly. Even as a dumb 18 year old I knew I would have to answer to my children and my childrens children. Better safe than sorry!!!

If you were given the option to ingest cyanide or aresenic, what would you choose? Neither, of course. Yet we allow assholes to tell us it's a our "patriotic duty" to vote for which bag of shit smells the least offensive.

Withdraw all consent, stop paying taxes, stop spending money except on life necessities. Pay down all debt. Accumulate savings in whatever form you deem appropriate for your situation. Then you're actually casting a meaningful ballot that says, "Fuck all of you clowns. EABODADIAF!"

"The right of the president of the United States to withhold information from Congress or the courts."

Historically, presidents have used the right of executive privilege when they have information they want to keep confidential, either because it would jeopardize national (government) security or because disclosure would be contrary to the interests of the Executive branch(es re-election campaign).

people die in wars dunbfuck. tracking guns through mexico was not a bad idea. the cartels would have had PLENTY of guns without fast and furious. The conservatives in this thread are really starting to sound like whinny little bitches. The devices in the gus let the agents to the cartels stongholds.

In WAR if two people die on your side and 18 die on the other side thats considered a sucessful battle.

Dude. There were no tracking devices in any of the guns in the F&F operation. None. Zero. Nada. NO attempt was made whatsoever to track any gun in F&F.

Think about this; Pablo Escobar. One of the richest men in the world, with billions of dollars in cash, his own air force and navy. Do you really think he sent flunkies over the border to US gun shops to buy neutered, overpriced, civilian semi-autos? Not fuckin' likely, dude. When you have the resources of a major drug lord, you go to the source and buy the good stuff at wholesale. Or take a few shipments of US military weapons straight from Hitlery's State Dept.

I absolutely fucking hate the American voting public, and the corrupt voting "process". When you get assholes like this president, the past one and complete fucking hoodtards like Maxine Waters in CA and Marion Barry in DC, you just want to bitch slap the entire population into next week.

It's all the same story. Issa's office is a revolving door outlet for The Squid. Seems that's all you ever get when local people vote their perceived local interests in "contests" confined to the red/blue "battlefield."

It's just Cause and Effect. The "American voting public" has been thoroughly and effectively brain-washed and condition from the time they were old enough to watch cartoons on the teevee. This brain-washing has been done by scientifically by professionals and was very expensive. But "it was worth it", if you're a member of The Elite. The "American voting public" is nothing but a bunch of zombies. Bernays, Freud's nephew was an expert in crowd behavior. He was the founder of the modern and very effective American advertizing industry. They are the reason we buy stuff (and people) we really don't need or want.

"If we understand the mechanism and motives of the group mind, it is now possible to control and regiment the masses according to our will without them knowing it."

"The conscious and intelligent manipulation of the organized habits and opinions of the public is an important element in democratic society. Those who manipulate this unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country." Edward Bernays

Bizarre? He aparently has no problem if brown people are killed using Fast & Furious to convey weapons to the cartels with no tracking ever done.. Only brave ATF agents telling the truth ever brought this to light.. That assertion in light of the facts is not so bizarre..

This was Obama's attempt at "under the radar" gun control. He was just waiting to read his teleprompter, "This proves all the guns used by drug cartels to kill innocent women and children in both Mexico and the US come from corrupt gun dealers in the US. Therefore, by presidential decree I now declare guns illegal."

I would think illegal international arms dealing and accessory to murder should result in some prosecution of both Obama and Holder... oh wait, that's right, this is the U.S.A.

"Sen. Chuck Grassley said in a statement released Wednesday shortly after the president's move. "How can the President assert executive privilege if there was no White House involvement? How can the President exert executive privilege over documents he's supposedly never seen? Is something very big being hidden to go to this extreme?"

Exactly, how can the W/H claim executive privilege without prior knowledge of the crime? I believe it is big-time jail time for all those dirty stinky criminals.

Issa needs to work from the ground up... not from the top down. The county sherriff in any county in any state has a tremendous amount of legal power at his command. Issa needs to get the county sherriffs to start issuing warrants for the arrest under the charge of murder of the agents responsible, then work his way up the chain of command until he gets to Holder and Obama. 2nd degree murder charges and some agents in handcuffs will get a lot of folks singing - the executive and judicial branches here have blood on their hands... Officer Terry's blood.

The complacency of the voters is really what allows for this bullshit to continue.Look to both sides of the aisle as it relates to the party voters and one can see their obvious “not my party’s fault” mentality.

Pointing out this piece on gun running to Democrat Party voter will only result in a defense of misdirection on some other tangent of a “Well, Bush did this” rant, thereby rationalizing Obama’s actions through a tit for tat explanation.

A Republican Party voter, will criticize the Democrats for breaking the rule of law, as they want to take our guns.They will then, in turn, speak out of the other side of the mouth criticizing the Iran computer virus leaks and ignoring this blatant act of war simply because Iran are the bad guys, nuclear weapons, terrorists, etc.

The circle arguments are mind numbing and after 5-6 years of trying to get either side to see the light, specifically that no difference exists between these two birds of prey, I have become very comfortable in a place of informed apathy and flying under the radar in any way I can.

Dick,
I agree with you but how, realistically, can the voters do anything about it? If EVERYONE refused to vote at the next election all it would take is ONE person to do so and the next POTUS would be decided on that. It's dispiriting to see the complete moral bankruptcy these people in power have but it's that which drives them on to seek those positions of power.

I agree with the one vote part of your statement; however, it is the my party vs. your party mentality that allows people like Obama and Romney to get into office. Obama came in with the ANYBODY BUT BUSH mantra. That allowed for D's to dismiss this, that, and the other with Obama.

Now we have a ANYBODY BUT OBAMA mantra, and a carbon clone of Busbama is making his way to the blessed chair of the POTUS, while R's dismiss this, that, and the other. I guess what I am saying is that principles over party would make a lot of sense. Just bitching really, I have no solution.

What people should be wondering is why this went on for so long without one fucking whistle blower? Yeah, your bureaucracy is that fucking corrupt folks. The bureaucracy is a bigger threat to you than some dumb-ass puppet in a rigged election. But go ahead and pretend it's not so bad. That's what Americans are best at doing.

Not trying to start a "Bush's fault" debate with you, as a previous poster explained beautifully. However, using Wikipedia as a source for political information is just assinine. Wikipedia has a tangible democrat/left wing bias.

Don't you understand that our govt. IS a criminal mafia? That they have been funding black ops forever by drug and weapon deals? Why are the Mexican cartels still in business while flanked by the "best military and intelligence in the world"?

Why? Because the cartels work hand-in-hand with the alphabet agencies, who are their ultimate bosses!

It doesn't matter WHICH party is in office....this is the way the global cartel works.

the point was/is that the two operations are different...One tracked guns with the Mexican gov't's knowledge...the other sent guns across the border w/o the mexican Gov't's knowledge and people died as a result....

Fast & Furious was designed from the beginning to justify the clamping down on legitimate gun sales in the USA...A black flag op to scale back my and your 2nd Amend rights...

Hey buddy, whenever gun control legislation comes up the whole NRA crowd comes around and says guns are just a tool. Guns don't kill people, remember. But the ATF loses track of some guns in a sting and now they are murderers.

You guys are making the same argument as the gun control lobby. That it's the provider of the weapon and not the user who is responsible. You just hate guy so much you want to hang him for whatever you think can stick.

The ATF knew this was against the law in Mexico. When the shoe was on the other foot and Pancho Villa was dealing in weapons and had a disagreement with his supplier that turned violent in Columbus, NM the U.S. Army invaded Mexico. Americans considered it an act of war then.

We're America. The only sovierngty we respect is our own. You think we give a fuck about Mexico? We're wrecking it with our drug war so the Cocaine Importing Agency can run the biggest racket in history.

ATF has been been doing everything they can to go after guns (Tax stamps for Class III weapons justified by the interstate commerce clause... really?) since they really lost the "A" in their name after prohibition ended.

Agencies must prosecute and produce "results" in order to grow their budgets. If there isn't enough actual criminal activity then rig some up.

1st your an idiot.. "Wide Receiver" the Bush era program actually tracked guns fucktard... Fast & Furious never TRACKED THE GUNS YOU ASS.. ATF AGENTS RATTED OUT THEIR OWN BOSSES, why because Fast & Furious never tracked guns the agents in fact were prohibited from following the straw buyers as they left the gun stores where they were purchasing dozens of AK's at a time.. You keep pretending you can discern facts from fiction it is obviously what you think your good at..

There are 2 American constitutions: The Constitution for the united States c.1787; and the corporate construct CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES created by a 3 man commission appointed by corporate President U.B. Grant in 1868, and allegedly ratified in 1871 (The Organic Act).

What a crock of shit article that is-it had all the usual red herrings (like karl marx was an anti-semite, LOL) to cover for the jew supremacists whose mantra (whether they pose as communists, capitalists, liberals, conservatives, religionists or whatever) is: IS IT GOOD FOR THE JEWS?

Choosing not to vote is an option if that is what you elect to do. As for me, I find it absurd that anyone thinks this SOB deserves another term in office. There is no way Romney would be as thoroughly bad as this imposter.

Nobody said Romney was worth a damn, but he will be the GOP nominee. Therefore, when November rolls around, registered voters can CHOOSE to vote for a candidate on the ballot, they can CHOOSE to vote for a write-in candidate, or they can CHOOSE not vote at all. Therefore, every registered voter will make a CHOICE. I consider any CHOICE that most likely leads to another term in office for Obumble to be a bad CHOICE.

Hey, I supported Ron Paul and I voted for Ron Paul in the Texas GOP Primary. Ron Paul is not going to be the GOP nominee. He is most likely not going to run as a Libertarian Party candidate. He is not going to win as a write-in candidate. Rand endorsed the presumptive GOP nominee. Ron and Rand will both make their choices in November. So will I. You may choose for yourself.

Events will force a choice between a real reformer and a dictator, as real world systems break down under the pressure of exponential growth demands upon them. It just might be worth your time to help steer things down the right path, no matter how long the odds are.